criplomats

I’m pretty much recovered from my cold, but still moving slowly. Every day is a little better! It’s especially aggravating to see my Fitbit steps go down to nothing – argh!

Yesterday John and I went to the office to work – he worked all day because we’re moving into his busy season for procurement as our fiscal year comes to a close next month. I just went in for a couple of hours in the morning to write a letter of recommendation for a co-worker and get some other administrative stuff done.

Afterward, I drove out to Tonala and poked around some of the stores there. It’s historically a artisan town – yesterday I went to several of their stores for blown glass. I had a good time, and brought home a torta ahogada to eat – a “drowned sandwich” that Guadalajara is famous for. It’s basically a mini-baguette stuff with pork, then “drowned” in a spicy tomato sauce. Messy to eat, but good!

I had a discussion this week with my mothership (Consular Affairs) about my onward assignment – bidding opens next month. John and I have made the decision to come back to DC for a tour – it will be nice to be closer to home for a while. I’ve got my eye on some interesting jobs, so wish me luck!

I’ve been fighting a cold all week and finally threw in the towel Thursday at noon and came home, and I stayed home Friday. I’m feeling better but just not 100%.

Despite not feeling well, I did go to Tlaquepaque yesterday for the En Arte crafts fair – it’s my favorite and I just didn’t want to miss it. I ended up not buying much, but it was good to get out for a little while. They have vendors from all over Mexico and they have some interesting things.

We finished “Band of Brothers” last night – what an incredible story.

Bees have invaded our hummingbird feeders and we are not amused! I’m not quite sure what to do about it, and for the time being have taken down the two affected feeders. When they take over a feeder, they also run off the birds – grrr! Hopefully they will move on soon.

We had a nice afternoon with our downstairs neighbors yesterday. They had us down for lunch and games as a thank you to John – he had to run Mike to the ER earlier in the week when Mike got a nasty cut on his hand.

Aside from the bees, I’ve been battling Microsoft. Evidently some files got corrupted, so I’ve spent several evenings on the phone with their techs who are trying to fix the problems.

I’ve also been watching several good shows on TV – “Band of Brothers,” “Olive Kitteridge,” and “The Night of” – plus we watched a very quirky movie called “The Lobster.”

Two of our ACS local staff retired this week. They had over 80 years of service between them. We had a big taco party for them at work – it was a bittersweet day for them. Our local staff are really the institutional knowledge of the Department of State overseas; while officers like me come and go, they are the glue that keeps sections held together.

With Ana Rosa and Adriana

ACS Group Shot

John is in full War College mode – reading and writing papers! He seems to be enjoying it.

Speaking of reading, we hosted book club at our house on Thursday. I admit to not reading the book (!) but I do enjoy hosting the group.

Yesterday morning we went to a brunch to welcome our new consular chief – it was a pretty morning outside and we enjoyed socializing a bit.

My computer has begun to give me fits. I’ve been on two different telephone sessions with Microsoft technicians today, all to no avail!

Here’s a shot of me with my great boss Pete and excellent local staffer Cesar at happy hour last week.

With Pete and Cesar